Shoe heel construction



Feb. 7, 1961 P. E. MILSTER I 2,970,389

SHOE HEEL CONSTRUCTION Filed Dec. 22, 1958 F/QZ //w E/v 70 2 PEEV/J EMIL 5 7-5/2 United States Patent SHOE HEEL CONSTRUCTION Pervis EraMilster, 1211 Clara, St. Louis 12, Mo.

Filed Dec. 22, 1958, Ser. No. 782,162

3 Claims. (Cl. 362.5)

This invention relates to improvements in shoes. More particularly, thisinvention relates to improvements in heels for shoes.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide animproved heel for shoes.

In many womens high heeled shoes, there is a tendency for the wearersfeet to work forwardly and downwardly toward the front of the shoes. Thepresent invention minimizes and largely obviates undesirable pressuresbetween the toes and Vamps of the shoes and the-wearers toes andinsteps. It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide ashoe which minimizes movement of the wearers foot forwardly anddownwardly toward the toe of the shoe.

The present invention minimizes forward and downward movement of thewearers foot by making the portion of the shoe, intermediate the counterand the vamp, flexible and yielding; and by using a heel that underliesthe shank of the shoe and that enables the rear portion of the shoe toproject rearwardly fromthe shank in cantilever fashion. 7

The rearward projection of the rear portion of the shoe in cantileverfashion enables that rear portion to move downwardly with the heel ofthe wearers foot as the wearer applies her weight to that foot when shewalks, and it also enables that rear portion to move upwardly with theheel of the wearers foot as the wearer successively shifts her weight tothe ball and toes of that foot when she walks. As a result, the rearportion of the shoe largely moves with the heel of the wearers foot;and, as a result, minimizes rubbing of the wearers heel. It is thereforean object of the present invention to provide a shoe which has a rearportion that moves downwardly and upwardly with the heel of the wearersfoot.

In many womens high heeled shoes, the heels and the portions of thesoles extending forwardly from the heels subtend acute angles. Thoseacute angles can be reduced in size, as the wearers apply their weightsto the heels of those shoes, because the heels are so thin that theybend slightly. Those heels will remain bent as the wearers moveforwardly and shift their weights to the balls of their feet; but thoseheels will return to their unbent configurations as the wearers shifttheir Weights from the balls to the toes of their feet. As the heels ofthe shoes return to their unbent configurations, they kick back; andthis can be irritating and annoying. The present invention provides aheel that will not kick back, and thus provides a heel that avoidsirritation and annoyance. That heel is enabled to avoid kicking backbecause it extends upwardly and forwardly toward the shank of the shoerather than upwardly and rearwardly to the rear portion of the shoe.Consequently, that heel is better able to, and does, resist bendingforces. It is therefore an object of the present invention toprovide aheel that extends upwardly and forwardly to the shank of the shoe ratherthan upwardly and rearwardly to the rear portion of the shoe.

The present invention minimizes and largely eliminates jars and shocksby providing a heel that cushions and absorbs the jars and shocks thatare created and that otherwise would be transmitted directly to thewearers heels and legs. It is therefore an object of the presentinvention to provide a heel for a shoe that cushions and absorbs thejars and shocks that otherwise would be transmitted directly to thewearers heel and leg.

The present invention provides full and adequate sup port for thewearers arch by causingthe heel to support the shank of the shoe andenable the arch to serve as a fulcrum. As the wearers weight is appliedto the rear portion, of the shoe, that rear portion will yield and,effectively, cause the shank of the shoe to engage and give full supportto the wearers arch. The shank of the shoe will continue to support thewearers arch as the wearer shifts her weight to the ball of her foot;and hence the arch of the wearers foot is fully supported by the shankof the shoe. It is therefore an object of the present invention toprovide a shoe that provides full support for the arch of the wearer.

The heel provided by the present invention is readily usable by themakers of shoes; and the shoes equipped with that heel are readily wornby individuals.

Other and further objects and advantages of the present invention shouldbecome apparent from an examination of the drawing and accompanyingdescription. 7

In the drawing and accompanying description, a preferred embodiment ofthe present invention is shown and described but it is to be understoodthat the drawing and accompanying description are for the purpose ofillustration only and do not limit the invention and that the inventionwill be defined by the appended claims.-

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevational view of one embodiment of shoe that is madein accordance with the principles and teachings of the presentinvention,

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the shoe shown in Fig. 1,

Fig. 3 is a bottom view of part of the shoe shown in Figs. 1 and 2, and,

Fig. 4 is a sectional view through the shoe of Figs. 1-3, and it istaken along the plane indicated by the line 44 in Fig. 3.

Referring to the drawing in detail, the numeral 1 generally denotes ashoe having an upper portion 2 which is attached to a sole 4 inconventional manner.. The heel provided by the present invention isgenerally denoted by the numeral 6, and that heel is attached to anintermediate portion of the sole 4. The sole 4 has a toe portion 8, aball portion 10, a shank portion 12, and a rear portion 14. The upperportion 2 of the shoe has the lower edges thereof folded inwardly andsecured to the upper face of the sole 4, as shown particularly by Fig.4. The steel shank stiffener, that is a standard part of all good highheeled shoes, is denoted by the numeral 18; and the shank stiifener isdisposed atop' the sole 4 intermediate the inwardly folded lower edgesof the upper portion .2. An inner sole 20 overlies the shank stiffenerand those in.- wardly folded edges, and that inner sole is overlain by asock lining 22. The rear portion 24 of the upper 2 will be of standardand usual design and construction.

The heel 6 includes a curved attaching portion 26 which has an uppersurface complementary to the lower surface of the shank portion 12 ofthe sole 4. The heel 6 has a curved or arched portion 28 extendingrearwardly from the attaching portion 26; and that arched portion has anupper face 30 which is substantially tangent to the sole 4 at the pointit contacts that sole. A generally vertical portion 32 having a free end34 depends downwardly fromthe arched portion 28; and that free end 34will occupy the position customarily occupied by many prior aer sss arthigh heeled shoe heels. A top lift 36 is secured to the free end 34 ofthe heel 6 in any convenient manner, as by a bolt or screw 38.

The attaching portion 26 of the heel 6 is secured to the shank portion12 of the sole 4 in any convenientmanner, as by bolts 45) passingthrough the shank stiffener 18 and seated in tapped holes 42 in the heelattaching portion 26 of heel 6. The heel 6 is substantially rigid, andit is preferably formed of a metal such as steel, brass, bronze,aluminum, or the like. However, that heel can be made of wood orplastic. When formed of metal, the heel 6 will preferably be attached tothe sole 4 by bolts, as shown. However, that heel can be attached to thesole 4 in any suitable manner.

The heel 6 extends upwardly and forwardly rather than upwardly andrearwardly; and it engages the shank portion rather than the rearportion of the sole 4. As a result, the rear portion of the shoe extendsrearwardly from the heel in cantilever fashion, and it is disposed aboveand out of engagement with the heel 6. Consequently, that rear portionof the shoe beyond the sole engaging portion of the heel can yieldslightly under the weight of the wearer, both when the wearer is walkingand when the wearer is standing still. In both instances the wearersweight will be distributed over the ball, the shank and the heel of theshoe. Further, that downward yielding of the rear portion of the shoewill minimize any tendency of the wearers foot to move forwardly anddownwardly toward the toe of the shoe.

As the wearer puts her foot down in walking, the heel 6 will strike theground before the sole 4 does; and that heel will apply an upwardly andforwardly directed force to the shank portion 12 of the sole 4. Thewearers weight will be initially applied to the rear portion 14 of thesole 4, and that rear portion will move downwardly with the shankportion 12 acting as a fulcrum. Almost immediately the rear portion 14will move down far enough to enable the weight of the wearer to bedistributed over the shank portion 12 and the rear portion 14 of thesole 4.

The downward movement of the rear portion of the shoe cushions the heelof the wearer while providing full resilient support for that heel. Thatdownward movement is not extensive, but it is great enough to permit atransfer of a substantial part of the wearers weight to the shankportion 12 of the sole 4. That shank portion will continue to support asubstantial part of the wearers weight as the wearers weight istransferred to the ball of her foot. The rear portion of the shoeexperiences a movement that resembles a pivoting, with the attachingportion 26 of heel 6 as a fulcrum; and, as a result of that movement,the wearers arch is given full and continual support. Furthermore,because of that movement, the wearers foot tends to remain completely inengagement with the heel portion 14 of the shoe, and that foot is lesslikely to slide up and down relative to the rear portion 24 of the upper2. Also because of that movement, the wearers foot is less likely totend to slide forwardly and downwardly toward the toe portion 8 of thesole. Because of that movement, the shoe is better able, throughout eachstep that the wearer takes, to support all parts of the foot rather thanjust the heel and ball of the foot.

The curved upper surface 30 of the heel 6 causes the flexing of the sole4 to be gradual rather than abrupt. This means that a sharp bending lineof the vamp is obviated, thereby increasing the wearers comfort andprolonging the life of the shoe.

Whereas the drawing and accompanying description have shown anddescribed a preferred embodiment of the present invention it should beapparent to those skilled in the art that various changes may be made inthe form of the invention without affecting the scope thereof.

What I claim is:

A shoe which comprises a sole portion, a heel portion, a shank portion,and a heel that has an attaching portion which underlies and is securedto said "shank portion of said shoe, said shank portion having a metalstiffener overlying said shank portion and extending into said heelportion, said attaching portion of said heel being spaced forwardly ofsaid heel portion of said shoe whereby said heel portion of said shoeextends rearwardly and upwardly in cantilever fashion from saidattaching portion of said heel, the ground-engaging portion of said heelbeing disposed below the level of, but in general vertical registrywith, said heel portion of said shoe whenever said shoe is in uprightposition, said attaching portion of said heel being disposed above thelevel of, and being disposed forwardly of, said ground-engaging portionof said heel whenever said shoe is in upright position, said heelcoacting with said sole to support said shoe and applying its support tosaid shank portion and thus intermediate said sole and said heelportion, said heel portion of said shoe being adapted to yield and tobend whenever the wearers weight is applied to said heel portion of saidshoe and thereby enable said shoe to conform closely and intimately tothe bottom of the wearers foot.

2. A shoe which comprises a sole portion, a shank portion, a heelportion, and a heel that has an attaching portion which underlies and issecured to said shank portion of said shoe, said shank portion having ametal stiffener overlying said shank portion and extending into the heelportion, said attaching portion of said heel beingspaced forwardly ofsaid heel portion of said shoe whereby said heel portion of said shoeextends rearwardly and upwardly in cantilever fashion from saidattaching portion of said heel, said attaching portion of said heelconcentrating the support which said heel provides for said shoe to theshank portion of said shoe and thereby concentrating said support to thearea of said shoe intermediate said sole portion and said heel portionof said shoe, said heel portion of said shoe being adapted to yield andto bend about a line perpendicular to the long axis of said shoe withsaid heel acting as a fulcrum, whenever the wearers weight is applied tosaid heel portion of said shoe.

3. A shoe which comprises a sole portion, a shank portion, a heelportion, and a heel that has an attaching portion which underlies and issecured to said shank portion of said shoe, said shank portion having ametal stiffener overlying said shank'portion and extending into the heelportion of the shoe, said attaching portion of said heel being spacedforwardly of said heel portion of said shoe whereby said heel portionextends rearwardly and upwardly in cantilever fashion from saidattaching portion of said heel, said attaching portion of said heelconcentrating the support which said heel provides for said shoe to theshank portion of said shoe and thereby concentrating saidsupport to thearea of said shoe intermediate said sole portion and said heel portionof said shoe, said heel portion of said shoe being adapted to yield andto bend about a line perpendicular to the long axis of said shoe withsaid heel acting as a fulcrum whenever the wearers weight is applied tosaid heel portion of said shoe, said heel having a convex upper facethat extends rearwardly from said attaching portion and that underliesbut is normally spaced from the under face of said shoe, said convexupper face of said heel limiting the yielding and bending of said heelportion of said shoe as the wearers weight is applied to said heelportion of said shoe.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,187,756 Schwellenbach Ian. 23, 1940 2,399,543 Back .a -e Apr. 30, 19462,510,560 Daniels June 6, 1950 2,767,487 Friedmann Oct. 23, 19,56

